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Our boys were recently fighting over who punched who first, and who said what mean thing to who last. When I asked them to explain what happened, they each had a different story, and they each had a pointed finger.

This happened at the end of a long week and I was low on patience, and so naturally, I did everything I know I’m not supposed to do. I got mad. I tried to instill fear with empty threats. I demanded the truth. And of course, none of that worked. They continued to argue and point fingers. Until, that is, I reminded them of grace.

I woke up at 3 a.m. That’s not unusual for me. It’s when I do my best worrying. Nothing like trying to be a good mom after a good long night of sleepless worry.

Worry. This is one of those things we mommas do well. We worry about our kids—the decisions they make and the hardships they face. We worry about most of the parenting decisions we make and whether we’ve got it right. We do this, even though we know, in the words of Corrie ten Boom, that “worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.”

When we are in Christ, God can’t stop loving us! The real us. The rebellious us. The unfaithful us. But, believing that can be so hard! Why? Well, for starters, there are simply too many parts of us that feel too unlovable. I know you know what I’m talking about. We know the mess that lies beneath our well-manicured outsides. Also, let’s not negate the power of the persistent message our culture bombards us with: “A little more perfect = a little more lovable.” Everywhere we turn, covert and overt messages assure us that our lovability is riding on our performance.

I recently found myself tiptoeing toward trying to rescue my son from a hardship, until, that is, my husband gently reminded me, “Unless you plan on living in his dorm room in college and going on his honeymoon when he gets married, you need to stay out of the way and allow him to navigate this and grow. You have to trust God to use this for his good.” He’s a smart one, that man of mine.

As moms it’s natural and normal to want to ensure our children’s happiness and protect them from all of life’s hardships. My heart has broken in ways I didn’t know it could break as I’ve walked alongside my boys through some pretty hard stuff.

Can we be real about this? It’s so hard to watch our kids navigate the “gift” of hardship, even though we absolutely know that it’s essential to their growing into responsible and resilient kids.

A common question people ask me when they discover I’ve written another book is, “What led you to write this book?”

Well, the truth is, God wrote this book on my heart first. He knew how much the truths held within the pages of Mom Set Free needed to be embedded in my own heart.

And the reason I am so excited to share it with you is because I’ve discovered this: I wasn’t the only mom who’d been trying to parent with grace without living in grace—without first accepting the grace of God for me, in all of my weakness, sin, and shortcomings. And I discovered I wasn’t the only one who struggled to believe God wasn’t disappointed in me(and even mad at me!) when I failed to reflect His heart to my children.

It was that discovery, along with the clear nudging from God, that inspired me to write Mom Set Free.

What I find so beautiful, so humbling, and perhaps, at times, so frightening, is that God chooses to use us—to involve us—as His instruments in the lives of our children. But! He is not asking us to play His role. Why is this so important to remember?

After having to ask my boys repeatedly to complete their tasks so we could get out the door on time, I shouted, “Boys, I am running out of patience with you!” But before I could speak another word, the thought ran through my mind: Aren’t you glad God never runs out of patience with you? I was able to use that small moment in the middle of our chaotic day to remind my kids of the Good News that “God never runs out of patience for us. He never comes to the end of His rope with us.”

When we’re feeling pushed far beyond our human limitations, and we look in the mirror only to find our face worn and weary with the day’s demands, we can turn to God’s Word and read the relief God promises.

Several months ago I asked for your help in choosing the cover for my new book and Bible Study, Mom Set Free: Find Relief from the Pressure to Get It All Right.

Well, you all blew me away with your responses and encouragement. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of Option B.

So it’s with much excitement and gratitude that I launch my new website today, featuring the covers that YOU chose, and finally share with you more about this book that God has used to teach me how to live and parent as a Mom Set Free.

I'm sorry I've been a bit silent around here while learning how to parent a newborn again. I forgot how glorious- and hard- these early days of infancy can be. Now that our sweet Finn is almost four months old, and a bit of sleep has become part of my existence again, I'm coming out of the baby fog and back to some sense of normalcy.